welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: terror on one of barcelona best—known streets, as a van ploughs into a crowd, killing 13, injuring more than 100. i saw people falling to the ground, and that struck my eyes, rather than the car. i immediately sensed it was a nice—like event and people around were running away, fled away, in panic. police believe they have stopped a second attack in the last hour. the shop several people in the town of cambrils. president trump says american history and culture are being "ripped apart" by the removal of confederate monuments. and playground propaganda: we meet some of the children schooled by is to become suicide bombers. hello.

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police in spain are hunting the driver of a van which was deliberately driven into crowds of people in barcelona, killing at least 13 and injuring more than 100. the vehicle zigzagged at speed along the city's best known thoroughfare, las ramblas, sending hundreds of people running gor their lives. the barcelona attack is being linked to a massive explosion which destroyed a house about 60 miles away on wednesday night, leaving one person dead. and in the past half hour, police say they shot dead four terrorist suspects in the town of cambrils, south of barcelona. sarah corker has the latest on the day's events. hundreds of holidaymakers, locals, shoppers,

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running, screaming, trying to escape from a vehicle being used as a weapon to kill in the centre of barcelona. come on, just come on. another european city under attack. it was just after five o'clock on a sunny thursday evening when this white van ploughed into pedestrians on spain's most famous boulevard. eyewitnesses say for half a kilometre at speeds of up to 80 kilometres per hour the van weaved from side to side, a deliberate attack on innocent people, police said. bodies were left lying on the streets. those nearby trying to help. i saw a white van with the side door open. we heard gunshots, whether it was police or from the vani

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whether it was police or from the van i don't know. we rang into the burger king to get shelter. what was going to your mind when it was going on? whether we would survive. we we re on? whether we would survive. we were scared they were going to get in there. they pulled all of the shutters down, just kept us safe. in there. they pulled all of the shutters down, just kept us safelj saw people fall into the ground and that struck my eyes rather than the car. i immediately sensed that it was a nice like event, and people around ran away, fled a way, in panic. then the van driver abandoned the vehicle and runaway. armed officers searched the surrounding area. police have released a photo of this man, driss 0ukabir, born in morocco, whose documents were used to read the van. at latest reports suggest he has told police his passport was stolen. late into the night the city centre was on lockdown. two people have been

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arrested. a spaniard and a moroccan. but police say neither was the driver. the so—called islamic state group said it was behind the attack. translation: i want to express their solidarity of the whole of spain with barcelona. today hit by jihadist terrorism. like other cities around the world before it, cities around the world before it, cities like madrid, paris, nice macro, russells and london, they experienced the same pain and it security of the cities of barcelona —— nice. security of the cities of barcelona -- nice. as people anxiously wait for news of loved ones, authorities have warned the numbers of dead may rise. a huge security operation is now under way. investigators are piecing together how this happened, who is behind it and asking why. gabriel howard wilson is from denmark and he got caught up

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the chaos after the attack. very glad you are kay. how did you first learn about what happened and what did you see and hear? howl learned what was going on was social media. that was the quickest way to find out what was happening. what i was doing, ijust arrived in barcelona. it was nice and sunny and i was with my mum and we were going to las ramblas to get lunch. 0n the way, suddenly i saw four or five police officers and suddenly they just started running. my first thought was they were going after a thief. and suddenly more people started running and screaming and i saw this one guy, he ran and he

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suddenly turned around and went back and his face was... he was really scared. so i thought there was some shooting going on, but i didn't hear any gunshots. so i went towards where everybody was going and there was lots of confusion, but mostly curiosity of what was happening and going on. it must have been getting obvious by that time that people we re obvious by that time that people were pretty terrified? yes, but after about i would say five minutes police officers with big guns, military like guns, were shouting the people, that they had to run and

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basically seek cover. so that started all the panic and what i thought was that those first five minutes the police weren't sure what was going on and then afterwards they knew it was terror and then they knew it was terror and then they made everybody run. i myself had to run into a theatre, right next to wear lots of people were distressed and really upset, the cost they had family members on the other side waiting for them and they couldn't get in contact with them. other side waiting for them and they couldn't get in contact with themlj know we've been hearing of so many people having to stay inside buildings, where they weren't intending to be, just to try and stay safe, because it wasn't clear whether there were more suspects at large, or danger. i know you are planning to stay in spain for a week oi’ planning to stay in spain for a week orso, in planning to stay in spain for a week or so, in barcelona. planning to stay in spain for a week orso, in barcelona. i planning to stay in spain for a week or so, in barcelona. i used your going to or are you getting out of there? we are absolutely going to get out of here now, but we will come back in a few days because we,

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me and my mum, think it's important to show that we're not scared and the reason why we're getting out is because we are on holiday and we'd like to have a bit of a...inaudible... we'rejust losing the connection. thank you so much for talking to us. i hope you get some sleep. and there's much more about the barcelona attack on our website. you'll also find a live page with the latest developments. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. us defence secretary james mattis has warned north korea of strong military consequences if it was to start hostilities. he was speaking after a meeting with japan‘s foreign and defence ministers in washington. the us and japan have announced they'll increase their defence cooperation to deal

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with the threat from north korea. a10 —year—old rape victim in india has given birth to a baby girl, weeks after her plea for an abortion was rejected by the highest court in the country. it alleged the victim was raped by her uncle, who has been arrested. the medical panel said her pregnancy was too far advanced. there have been protests about that. police have issued a red alert on south africa's border to prevent the zimbabwean first lady from fleeing the country. grace mugabe is accused of beating a 20—year—old model in a hotel room nearjohannesburg with an extension cord. police expected mrs mugabe to turn herself in on tuesday, but she failed to show up. president trump has criticised efforts in a number of us states to remove statues honouring civil war leaders who fought to defend slavery, saying that america's culture and history were being "ripped apart". a 32—year—old woman was killed and 20 people were injured

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at the weekend, when violence broke out at a white nationalist protest against plans to take down one such statue in virginia. 0ur north america editor, jon sopel, reports from leesburg. bell tolls does this statute represent heritage or hate? dignity or division? last night, this monument to a confederate soldier, the army from the south in the us civil war that fought to maintain slavery, was vandalised. today, as we filmed in leesburg, virginia, the local authorities decided it was time to install closed—circuit tv to keep a watchful eye on the monument. and this famous landmark of this pretty town was dividing opinion, just as it is across the country. do you believe the statue should come down? no, i don't. why not? like i say, it's history. it's not good history, but it's a reminder of what not to repeat in the past. it's a shame. it's a darn shame. you know, that they have to nit—pick stuff like this. should these statues stay or go?

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i think they should go. i believe the statues should go. it's a representation of past actions that have shackled and chained people both mentally and physically. but it's not only this vietnam vet saluting these monuments. today, donald trump entered the fray, tweeting: "sad to see the history and culture of our great country being ripped apart with the removal of our beautiful statues and monuments. it was plans to dismantle the statue of general lee that sparked these hate—drenched scenes in charlottesville at the weekend, which left one person dead. no doubt these people will be cheering the president to the rafters for his comments today. but in durham, north carolina, those people who believe these statues are symbols of america's

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dark past are taking matters into their own hands. cheering there are statues like this all across the southern states of america. yes, they represent history and heritage. but that's only part of the story. they are also about the toxic state of race relations in america today, and the continuing search of african—americans to find equality and respect. an old soldier who now seems to represent an america uncomfortable about its past, divided about its present, uncertain about the future. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: three years after his capture by so—called islamic state. a yazidi boy is reunited with his family in canada. washington, the world's most political city is today assessing

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the political health of the world's most powerful man. indeed i did have a relationship with miss lewinsky that was not appropriate. in fact, it was wrong. in south africa, 97 people have been killed today in one of the worst days of violence between rival black groups. over the last 10 days, 500 have died. chanting: czechoslovakia must be freed! russia is observing a national day of mourning for the 118 submariners who died on board the kursk. we are all with them now, within our hearts. the pope has celebrated mass before a congregation of more than 2.5 million people, in his hometown of krakow. "stay with us, stay with us," chanted this ocean of humanity. "well, well," joked the pope, "so you want me to desert rome?" good to have you with us.

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this is bbc news. the latest headlines: three days of mourning have been declared after a van deliberately ploughed into a crowd in the centre of barcelona killing 13 people as the security operation gathers pace, four people, described as terrorists, have been killed in the town of cambrils, south of barcelona. and more on that is coming through from reuters press agency. according to those agencies, four suspected terrorists have been shot dead and another wounded by spanish police in another wounded by spanish police in a second attack to hit catalonia. it happened just south of barcelona. seven people reportedly hurt. a group wearing explosive belts tried

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a similar attack to the barcelona attack. they were closing in on the beachfront promenade on friday. bysta nders beachfront promenade on friday. bystanders were reported to be running for cover and several gunshots heard. there were clips on social media showing several bodies on the floor. we will not show you that at the moment. police are saying the situation is under control. michael s smith ii is a terrorism analyst, and joins us live from atlanta, georgia. it is good to talk to you. what does all of this age you? it says you have a pretty dynamic plot. —— say to you. they have unfolded in spain. so far, we can understand that the people involved are in direct communication to people inside the islamic state caliphate. you had an exceptionally quick claim of

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responsibility for this attack. the fa ct responsibility for this attack. the fact it was exceptionally quick, what does that say? again, it says there is some level of interaction between the people involved, those inside the so—called caliphate. it may be that people were deployed to spain to help co—ordinate a series of activities, that would not be without precedent. the key participant in the paris attack in 2015 was deployed in europe to undertake attacks before that one. he travelled back to syria and then back to europe to participate in the paris plot. that is one possibility. another is that a group of people in spain supporting islamic state heeded the call to execute attacks, which have been called for since 2014. they reached out to group

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members over the internet, perhaps using encrypted chat communications, like telegram, whatsapp, a long list of tools that are using to engage with people around the world, and they produced a video, something like that, firmly attributing the attack to the group. we are being told quite often that low—tech attacks like these are relatively easy to undertake. it can be a sign they are getting desperate on the battlefield. you don't agree? yes, i don't be there was an attack executed in brussels before islamic state its caliphate in 2014, months before that. i was sent to report on it. while the loss of territorial

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holdings is true, i think the effort to execute attacks in the west and punish disbelievers as they call us, thatis punish disbelievers as they call us, that is something the group's leadership has always factored in their capacity to build good will among the many jihadis their capacity to build good will among the manyjihadis around the world to bring them in their ranks from groups like al qaeda which refused to merge with it. there has to be some alarm there can be two such full throttle attacks so close to each other in spain. yes. you have to keep in mind the so—called theatre of terrorism. it is one thing for a horrible attack like the one earlier in the day to occur, but if you can have a cascading series of attacks, that'll certainly amplify the fear factor. that is an ingredient in this effort to

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terrorise the populace. thank you very much for that. thank you. the terror attack in barcelona has been claimed by so—called islamic state, the latest they've carried out in europe this year. but on the battlefields in iraq and syria, is has been collapsing as it's driven out of its strongholds. but as they go, they're leaving behind a deadly legacy, children schooled in hate and trained for combat. more than 2,000 boys are thought to have graduated from is military training. 0ur middle east correspondent, quentin sommerville, has the second part of his report on what is calls, its lion cubs of the caliphate. turning a child into a suicide bomber takes time. and it might start here. in raqqa, they crowd round to watch a man, caged like an animal. the so—called islamic state charge sheet reads that he harassed a woman. his punishment is children's entertainment.

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war brutalises. growing up in conflict, destruction and violence become routine. mosul and elsewhere became fertile recruitment ground for the islamic state group. is didn'tjust concentrate its attentions here on the battlefield. it also moved into homes and into classrooms and there they filled young minds full of tales ofjihad, of suicide bombers and of conquering the west. so even though the fighting has stopped, they've left behind a toxic legacy, a new generation of hate and that will be difficult to erase. and the songs from their propaganda videos soon made their way into playgrounds and children's mouths. boy sings this boy can't forget the songs, and he can't forget is. he says their education was aboutjihad and how to blow yourself up, and teaching them how

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to use weapons and how to take a gun apart. he says, "yes, they were scary, they cut off heads. we'd get 15 lashes for a haircut like this." recruitment started here in the classroom. bashir is a tutor in mosul. translation: children are fertile ground. schools and curriculums are the way to train the students and brainwash them, until they're ready tojoin military training and take part in battle. when is arrived, they destroyed the existing curriculum and created another. in words and pictures, they make war and destruction commonplace. kids learn to read the clock by looking at timebombs. in arabic, the differences between big and small,

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long and short, are shown with bazookas, bullets and rockets and gym class ends with lessons, a guide to stripping and cleaning a kalashnikov. 0ther armed groups have used children to fight before. it's a war crime but is turned it into an efficient process. in turkey, i met maqmood. he faught with rebels in syria and then is. it's been a shattering experience for him and his family. translation: when i came back someone said to me, "you are a loser and if i were you i wouldn't have done what you have done, no human being should. this is called failure." ijust keep thinking of that word "loser." the islamic state was formed in a torment and it has destroyed more than just cities. it has ruined lives, warped and stalled the future

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of an entire generation. repairing that damage will be an even greater task than rebuilding these ruined streets. quinton sommerville bbc news. let's ta ke let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. us navy is being disciplined for a naval crash earlier this year. firefighters are struggling to control two major blazes in central portugal that have cut off a village of 2,000 people, according to local officials. the fires broke out on tuesday evening and have so far left 92 people injured, seven seriously. there's a warning that even hotter weather is on the way for the region in the coming days. the nobel prize—winning activists, malala yousafzai, who was shot in the head by the taliban for advocating education for girls and

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pakistan has ta ken advocating education for girls and pakistan has taken the social media to show she was admitted into 0xford university. she starts this year. finally, some much needed good news. a 12—year—old yazidi boy has been reunited with his family three years after being captured by so—called islamic state militants in iraq. the family were held captive in 2014. his mother, who now lives in canada, only discovered her son was alive last month, as the bbc‘s adam mcilrick reports. a lot is going on in this hour. the main news. police in spain are still hunting the driver of a van that was deliberately driven into people in barcelona, killing at least 13 and injuring more than 100 on the popular street of las ramblas,

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forcing people to flee. in the last half—hour, police are reporting four suspected terrorists shot dead and one wounded by police. a second attack to hit catalonia. apparently it happened in a coastal town just south of barcelona. they are trying to establish whether the people they we re to establish whether the people they were dealing with were wearing explosives belt. it is known they launched a van attack similar to the one in barcelona. police are telling people to take cover near the area in the beachfront coastal town of cambrils. several gunshots have been heard in the footage heard on social media. several dead bodies lying on the floor. police are saying the situation in the area is now under control. hello there.

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friday is looking a bit cooler across the board, and there'll plenty of showers around, too, some of them merging together to produce longer spells of rain, particularly across the north and the west of the uk. we start the morning off with sunshine and dry in the south and eastern areas. there will be plenty of showers from the word go, particularly across scotland. some merging together to bring longer spells of rain in the north—west and eastern areas as well. a little bit of sunshine to the south. some sunshine and one or two showers for northern ireland. temperatures around 12 degrees in belfast to start the day. england and wales, most of the showers in northern and western areas. whereas for the midlands eastwards, it should be a largely dry start. temperatures around 15—17 degrees, but quite breezy, particularly close to the irish sea. in fact, irish sea coasts will be windy through the day. wet in the northern half of scotland. and this feature across ireland will push towards wales and western parts of england later in the day, to bring more prolonged rain here, too.

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the south—east, plenty of dry weather. top temperatures — 21 or 22 degrees, so cooler than what we saw on thursday, certainly across northern and western areas. during friday night, it stays blustery, further pulses of rain, showers moving through. but it does tend to turn a little bit dryer by the end of the night. and a few cooler spots, as well, in rural places, central and northern parts. saturday starts off fine and dry. in fact, we're in between weather systems, so it's looking good through the country. still quite a windy day, but far fewer showers, and they'll be much lighter, as well. staying dry, especially in northern and western areas. 20 or 22 the high, around the mid—to—upper teens celsius across the north. this area of low pressure hurtling across the atlantic towards our shores will contain the remnants of what was hurricane gert. so it's going to bring a surge of rain, strengthening winds to south—western areas on sunday. northern and eastern areas actually starting off dry, with some sunshine. a bit of uncertainty as to how far and heavy this rain will spread north and east. but what it will do is also introduce a brief surge of warmer and more humid air to southern parts of britain as we head on in towards the start

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of next week. but, again, a bit of uncertainty depending on how much sunshine there will be. we could be looking at temperatures reaching the mid—20s. but cool air lurks behind that weather front, where we could see rain as it slowly starts to spread southwards.

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this is bbc news. the headlines: police in spain are hunting for the driver of a van which was deliberately driven into crowds of people in the city of barcelona, killing at least 13 and injuring more than 100. the spanish prime minister, mariano rajoy, said jihadist terrorism was to blame. so—called islamic state claims it was behind the attack. in a fresh development, the government of catalonia says police have stopped a second attempted attack, shooting dead several people in the town of cambrils, south of barcelona. president trump has criticised efforts in several us states to remove statues honouring civil war leaders who fought to defend slavery, saying that america's culture and history were being ripped apart. he said the controversial monuments were beautiful and would be greatly missed. now on bbc news, hardtalk.